2013 Results

Current plans are to hold the 2014 race at the Clikapudi Trail.

Start your New Year on the right foot! (or left, if you prefer).

5K, 10K, 15K and 30K options.  Registration opens in September 2013.

Three hour cut-off for all races, walkers welcome in the shorter distances!  Encourage your friends to join you- maybe you can help them start a new lifetime habit of healthy living!

Here are some pictures of the course, taken on a hot September day.
On Jan 1, expect a much greener course with flowing creeks and happy runners!  The creeks are flowing and we even have a couple of nice waterfalls.

Course description:

All races begin and end at the Shasta Mine Trail Parking lot in Whiskeytown Park about one mile south of the dam on Paige Bar Road.  All races begin with a challenging half-mile climb on a double-track trail, followed by a long descent that at times is steep, technical, or both.

After a little over 1.5 miles, 5K runners will turn right and continue on the Shasta Mine Trail Loop.  There is a medium sized hill in the second mile and a small hill in the third mile.  Each hill is less than half as high as the hill before it.

10K runners share the first 1.5-2 miles of the 5K course, then climb very gently up Mule Town Road (dirt) to the rolling Buck Hollow Trail.  The 2nd half of the course, after the 15K turn, is mostly flat and fast.

15K runners will follow the 10K course for almost 4 miles, then turn left onto the Salt Creek Loop Trail.  At times the trail and the creek merge so expect to get wet feet.  Soon you will begin to climb “The Five-Headed Monster” up to the Mule Mountain Pass Trail.  The second half of the course is mostly downhill or flat, rejoining the 10K course for the last three miles.

30K:  Several options are under study, check back here in September.

Trail races take what nature and the trail builders give us.  The loops don’t usually work out to exactly match standard distances so it is customary to round off.  In this case, the 5K is very close to true, the 10K is a bit longer than advertised, and the 15K is a bit short.  But the 15K definitely feels like it is a full 5K longer than the 10K, incorporating one of the most challenging (and fun!) sections of the course.

Directions to the Start:

From Highway 299E, west of Redding, turn south at the Whiskeytown Visitor Center.  Stop at the Visitor Center to use the restroom!  After about a mile the road will split, do not take the sharp right turn that goes over the dam, instead continue straight ahead (southbound) for exactly one more mile.  Turn left into the Shasta Mine Trail Parking Lot.  If friends or family are coming with you, the historic Whiskeytown Cemetary is 1/4 mile south of the parking lot, an easy walk and interesting place to visit.